Category : Diversity

For the second consecutive year, women who have achieved leadership positions within the Victorian Public Sector (VPS) will be honoured in an initiative designed to highlight their work, to promote them as role models for other women and to support them in their career aspirations.

The Top 50 Public Sector Women (Victoria) initiative was launched in 2017 by Davidson’s Group General Manager Clare McCartin in a bid to redress the ongoing inequality in female representation at the highest levels of local government. Victorian Public Sector Commission (VPSC) data shows that as of June 2017, women accounted for 67 per cent of the VPS workforce, and yet, they held a disproportionality low 43.5 per cent of executive level positions. While the number of women holding senior VPS positions is low, it has been improving steadily jumping from 40 per cent in 2016 and 34.8 per cent in 2012.

Elizabeth Cosson is a name which should long be remembered in Australian history.

In April, Cosson was appointed to the role of Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs heralding the realisation of what had been a dream for many –gender parity in the upper echelons of the Australian Public Service (APS).